Sunday, April 18, 2010
Could the times be changing ?
Well, it's been a very interesting couple of weeks, culminating in my taking a call from David Thodey, the CEO of Telstra. He called in response to my recent complaints and also this blog, to express his frustration at the issues that lead to customers being as disgruntled as I have become. I've always wondered how there could be a disconnect between management and the various departments that have mistreated me in various ways over the years, because I'm sure no-one set out to create Telstra operating the way it has for me. Nevertheless, it was definitely an eye opener that the CEO takes such complaints seriously enough to call me to discuss them. I've had several other follow up calls from support people to make sure that various issues I've raised in this blog have been resolved. Might this be the start of a brand new day ? I certainly hope so. I don't think Telstra's problems are going to be fixed overnight, but I'm certainly convinced by the events of the past few weeks that the people at the top are aware of the issues, and are focused on resolving them. I've had several people call me to say 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating', these have been people telling me they know they have work to do, not people offering platitudes, and that gives me a lot of hope. Telstra was once something we all owned and took pride in. Nothing would make me happier than for it to be viewed that way again, by both clients and shareholders.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
You're a valued customer
I spent $300+ a month with Telstra. I recently got a call from them telling me how much Telstra values my loyalty, and what a valued client I am. I don't like to be rude, I did not tell him that I use Telstra because I have no choice. He discussed a few things he thought they could do for me. I really was only interested in one. He said they could roll my five bills in to one. I asked if they could be rolled in to two ( one for the two internet accounts, one for the three phone accounts ). Sure, he said. Give it a month, but that's done for you. That was about four months ago. I still get five bills a month. So, he called to tell me they'd love to do something for me, because I am a good client, but the thing he offered, he couldn't actually do. It's kind of ironic, in a lot of ways....
The Broken Modem Part 3
I realise at this point, this is not about Telstra, but it's related, so I'll post it here. I went away for 2 weeks, after calling Sierra again and being told that despite their belief that the issue is physical damage, they would send me a bag to send the modem back. I got back from my holiday and called them, the woman on the call said 'there's a note here that it's physical damage'. I reiterated all that I'd gone through and that I'd been told they would send a bag. She said she'd call me back after she spoke to a manager. It's been several days, they have not called me back.
At the core, the issue here is that Telstra sold something, and refuses to help me when it breaks and I need to get it fixed, they leave me to deal with the manufacturer directly. I can't recall the last time I bought something from a reseller and they did not offer to help me when I needed warranty service.
At the core, the issue here is that Telstra sold something, and refuses to help me when it breaks and I need to get it fixed, they leave me to deal with the manufacturer directly. I can't recall the last time I bought something from a reseller and they did not offer to help me when I needed warranty service.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Broken Modem Part 2
When I called Sierra Wireless, they said they would send me a bag to return the modem in. That was two weeks ago, so I called and was told it had been sent but they would resend another. A few moments later they called back to say that it had been decided that the breakage was my fault ( I can see why they would presume that, although it's not true, if all their modems break the way that mine did, then they are cheaply made rubbish and no-one should ever consider plugging an aerial in to one ), and they simply did not send the bag, without bothering to contact me. They are calling me on Monday, a manager will speak to me as I complained about their decision to just not tell me what was going on. I am deeply unhappy at the idea that I may have to pay to repair a poorly constructed and badly designed device, but if it costs $200 to repair and $400 to replace, I'm obviously going to have to live with it. I just don't see why they wouldn't even look at it or give me the option. Apparently they felt the same way, the woman did call me right back, so I assume they expect a higher standard of service from their staff than what I recieved. I just wonder why I am such a magnet for bad service. I'm polite on the phone, my requests are not unreasonable. What do I have to do ?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Wireless Modem Part 4
So, my next step was to send the following to the Ombudsman:
I have a Bigpond service, on a contract, for wireless internet. I went in to a store and asked for a way to upload a file quickly, they sold me a $400 modem on the basis that it could upload 2 GB in 15-45 minutes. It took 10 hours, and as my service now is no better than it was before I upgraded, I asked for a refund. I've written to the store manager, her staff have lied about what transpired and they are refusing to do anything about it. I've sent her a passage of the Sale of Goods Act 1954 ( from memory, I found it online ) which states i am entitled to a refund and damages if goods do not work as promised. She is stonewalling me. I was also told that a prepaid modem would be available to me at certain rates and the rates I was told were also lies. My entire experience with this particular store is that they are liars. I spent $400 on something that literally did nothing for me ( as my old modem works just as well ) and I don't see why I should spend $400 on nothing because of lying sales staff.
I have to admit at this point that neither the Ombudsman or Jade did anything to address the issue of my being lied to about prepaid rates. However, when the TIO replies to you, you get a code, and a secret phone number. The people on that number will not talk to you without a TIO number, but they are VERY helpful when they do talk to you. Well, mostly. I called the Telstra secret help line, and they said they would investigate my claims. Later that day, I travelled to Melbourne for a weekend with my son. I got there, and tried to connect my notebook, and got an error message : Invalid user name or password. I called the general support line, and the person on the other end first established that she could not log in to my account, then reset my password twice, both times we established she and I could not log in, then insisted I uninstall and reinstall the software and test again before she could escalate the claim to tier 2 support.
This is actually a new development, in the past I've called support and gone through the 'is it plugged in, is it turned on' level of monkey support they offer, and been told that we've 'exhausted tier one support options', but when I asked about tier 2, I was told it did not exist.
So, I was told it would take 4 business days before anyone would call to try and help me. Now, this was on the Fri before a long weekend, so we were talking about a week without the internet that my work relies on to exist. I was not pleased. I complained to the TIO again, they said that as I had a complaint open, I could not open another one. I called my trusty secret number, and the person there organised for me to be placed at the head of the queue.
The next morning ( which was Tuesday, not Friday ), I got a call from a guy, and he basically told me to try my password, then did some typing on his end, told me to try it again, did the same again, and the third time it worked. I did not have to change anything on my end. I find it odd that I complained to the Ombudsman and found myself disconnected within hours of doing so. I'm sure that's not a normal procedure they follow, but either way, it was somewhat of an interesting co-incidence. Nevertheless, I must admit that once you get to the point of complaining to the TIO, my experience is that you find yourself then put through to people who speak English and who actually do try to make your satisfaction their desired outcome, which is a world apart from the people behind the numbers passed out to the general public.
I have a Bigpond service, on a contract, for wireless internet. I went in to a store and asked for a way to upload a file quickly, they sold me a $400 modem on the basis that it could upload 2 GB in 15-45 minutes. It took 10 hours, and as my service now is no better than it was before I upgraded, I asked for a refund. I've written to the store manager, her staff have lied about what transpired and they are refusing to do anything about it. I've sent her a passage of the Sale of Goods Act 1954 ( from memory, I found it online ) which states i am entitled to a refund and damages if goods do not work as promised. She is stonewalling me. I was also told that a prepaid modem would be available to me at certain rates and the rates I was told were also lies. My entire experience with this particular store is that they are liars. I spent $400 on something that literally did nothing for me ( as my old modem works just as well ) and I don't see why I should spend $400 on nothing because of lying sales staff.
I have to admit at this point that neither the Ombudsman or Jade did anything to address the issue of my being lied to about prepaid rates. However, when the TIO replies to you, you get a code, and a secret phone number. The people on that number will not talk to you without a TIO number, but they are VERY helpful when they do talk to you. Well, mostly. I called the Telstra secret help line, and they said they would investigate my claims. Later that day, I travelled to Melbourne for a weekend with my son. I got there, and tried to connect my notebook, and got an error message : Invalid user name or password. I called the general support line, and the person on the other end first established that she could not log in to my account, then reset my password twice, both times we established she and I could not log in, then insisted I uninstall and reinstall the software and test again before she could escalate the claim to tier 2 support.
This is actually a new development, in the past I've called support and gone through the 'is it plugged in, is it turned on' level of monkey support they offer, and been told that we've 'exhausted tier one support options', but when I asked about tier 2, I was told it did not exist.
So, I was told it would take 4 business days before anyone would call to try and help me. Now, this was on the Fri before a long weekend, so we were talking about a week without the internet that my work relies on to exist. I was not pleased. I complained to the TIO again, they said that as I had a complaint open, I could not open another one. I called my trusty secret number, and the person there organised for me to be placed at the head of the queue.
The next morning ( which was Tuesday, not Friday ), I got a call from a guy, and he basically told me to try my password, then did some typing on his end, told me to try it again, did the same again, and the third time it worked. I did not have to change anything on my end. I find it odd that I complained to the Ombudsman and found myself disconnected within hours of doing so. I'm sure that's not a normal procedure they follow, but either way, it was somewhat of an interesting co-incidence. Nevertheless, I must admit that once you get to the point of complaining to the TIO, my experience is that you find yourself then put through to people who speak English and who actually do try to make your satisfaction their desired outcome, which is a world apart from the people behind the numbers passed out to the general public.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Wireless Modem Part 3
I've broken this up because the emails are so long. Here's the final email I got from Jade:
Hi Christian,
As I explained to you in my previous email my staff have not lied to you. The Prepaid Device you originally came in to purchase would be grossly inadequate for the purposes stated which is why my staff steered you away from this option. Jed did not tell you that it would upload in 15-45 minutes and I am unsure where this information came from but I am sure that it was not him because he is aware after 4 years in the Telco industry and dealing with BP and Mobile internet that you cannot make promises based on estimated speeds and does not make assurances such as this. I have taken all the information provided by yourself and my staff and will be standing by the decision that I have made foro the reasons stated in my previous email. You stated in your first email that "Based on this news, and on the fact that I didn't want to spend more than I had to, I decided to upgrade my existing BigPond account to the faster modem" taking this into account if you made the decision to do this then I cannot hold the staff responsible after they suggested another option for you which they believed to be the best way of handling your situation even though it is not the cheapest taking all factors and information provided to them into account this is what they suggested for you but you decided to go the other way. I Strongly suggest contacting bigpond as previously communicated to you as there may be something that they can do that will rectify your situation they are very helpful and have a lot more resources availble to them in regards to Wireless Broadband than ourselves at store level. If then you still have no satisfaction then of course take matters further if need be.
Regards,
Jade
My final response to her:
Hi Jade
I'm sorry, but I was told by your staff that it was Jed who spoke to me. I don't recall who it was. I DO know that the person I spoke to EXPLICITLY stated that it would take 15-45 minutes. I asked again and was told again. Being an experienced IT worker, if I'd been told 15 min, I'd have asked about it, but I assumed that 15-45 min was a range to allow for network conditions. As for steering me to another option, that is also not true. They presented two options, and I made my decision, again based entirely on the fact that if I could upload 2 GB in 15-45 minutes, it seemed wiser to spend the money on the device which would let me do that consistently, with the account I am already tied to. I did not realise at the time how close I was to my monthly limit, something I realise is my fault, and that's why I had to go on to buy a prepaid device ( although, as I said, and as you've never addressed, I was also told rates that were wrong on that device, and sold a device that I've since been told is not a prepaid device at all, with the wrong software so I cannot recharge it ). They gave me next to no advice beyond answering my questions, and certainly did not suggest that any of my options would perform better for me, or suit me better.
As you have no intention of helping me and continue to call me a liar, I will indeed take this further. As I stated to you earlier today, the Sale of Goods Act allows for goods that do not perform as promised. I am a computer programmer. I know more about computers than any of your staff, and I certainly know a lot more than any Bigpond help staff, who are uniformly useless. I was in the city, because that's where Jed assured me I could count on getting that speed. Nothing anyone can say to me now can change that I had a specific need at a specific time, was made specific promises, and they were lies.
I've had years of this sort of abuse and lies from Telstra. I've finally decided to do something about it. Could you please send me a photo of you in your work uniform for my blog ? http://whyihatetelstra.blogspot.com/
Christian
As you may have noticed, she never replied, and I do not have a photo to show you. However, I can offer this artists impression based on the mental image formed by our dealings as documented here.
To recap, the staff at the local Telstra store lied to me, lied to cover up their actions, and the manager basically called me a liar, repeatedly. Makes me wish I had some Telstra shares, really....
Hi Christian,
As I explained to you in my previous email my staff have not lied to you. The Prepaid Device you originally came in to purchase would be grossly inadequate for the purposes stated which is why my staff steered you away from this option. Jed did not tell you that it would upload in 15-45 minutes and I am unsure where this information came from but I am sure that it was not him because he is aware after 4 years in the Telco industry and dealing with BP and Mobile internet that you cannot make promises based on estimated speeds and does not make assurances such as this. I have taken all the information provided by yourself and my staff and will be standing by the decision that I have made foro the reasons stated in my previous email. You stated in your first email that "Based on this news, and on the fact that I didn't want to spend more than I had to, I decided to upgrade my existing BigPond account to the faster modem" taking this into account if you made the decision to do this then I cannot hold the staff responsible after they suggested another option for you which they believed to be the best way of handling your situation even though it is not the cheapest taking all factors and information provided to them into account this is what they suggested for you but you decided to go the other way. I Strongly suggest contacting bigpond as previously communicated to you as there may be something that they can do that will rectify your situation they are very helpful and have a lot more resources availble to them in regards to Wireless Broadband than ourselves at store level. If then you still have no satisfaction then of course take matters further if need be.
Regards,
Jade
My final response to her:
Hi Jade
I'm sorry, but I was told by your staff that it was Jed who spoke to me. I don't recall who it was. I DO know that the person I spoke to EXPLICITLY stated that it would take 15-45 minutes. I asked again and was told again. Being an experienced IT worker, if I'd been told 15 min, I'd have asked about it, but I assumed that 15-45 min was a range to allow for network conditions. As for steering me to another option, that is also not true. They presented two options, and I made my decision, again based entirely on the fact that if I could upload 2 GB in 15-45 minutes, it seemed wiser to spend the money on the device which would let me do that consistently, with the account I am already tied to. I did not realise at the time how close I was to my monthly limit, something I realise is my fault, and that's why I had to go on to buy a prepaid device ( although, as I said, and as you've never addressed, I was also told rates that were wrong on that device, and sold a device that I've since been told is not a prepaid device at all, with the wrong software so I cannot recharge it ). They gave me next to no advice beyond answering my questions, and certainly did not suggest that any of my options would perform better for me, or suit me better.
As you have no intention of helping me and continue to call me a liar, I will indeed take this further. As I stated to you earlier today, the Sale of Goods Act allows for goods that do not perform as promised. I am a computer programmer. I know more about computers than any of your staff, and I certainly know a lot more than any Bigpond help staff, who are uniformly useless. I was in the city, because that's where Jed assured me I could count on getting that speed. Nothing anyone can say to me now can change that I had a specific need at a specific time, was made specific promises, and they were lies.
I've had years of this sort of abuse and lies from Telstra. I've finally decided to do something about it. Could you please send me a photo of you in your work uniform for my blog ? http://whyihatetelstra.blogspot.com/
Christian
As you may have noticed, she never replied, and I do not have a photo to show you. However, I can offer this artists impression based on the mental image formed by our dealings as documented here.
To recap, the staff at the local Telstra store lied to me, lied to cover up their actions, and the manager basically called me a liar, repeatedly. Makes me wish I had some Telstra shares, really....
The Wireless Modem Part 2
So, Jade replied as follows:
Hi Jade,
Thankyou for bringing this to my attention. I appreciate the depth of detail, time & effort that has gone into explaining your experience with my staff & team in general.
Like all complaints or concerns that are brought to my attention, I will now investigate your allegations & act accordingly to my findings.
If there is merit to your allegations, I can ensure you, as manager I shall resolve the matter.
Please allow a timeframe of 72 business hours for my findings regarding this matter. Due to my commitments today & the unavailability of the concerned staff, I would like to inform you that the intended investigation shall commence as of 09:00am Thursday 25/02/2010.
If you require further information or clarity in regards to this response, please do not hesitate to contact me on the mobile number stated below.
Kind
Regards
Jade Smith
Store Manager
I am not sure if she meant 72 business hours, but it was less than 9 business days before she wrote back, as follows:
Hi Christian,
Thankyou for contacting me in regards to this matter I have now looked into it with the Staff involved. Firstly I'm sorry that you feel your service from the store here was less than satisfactory when you came in looking for an alternate wireless solution.
After speaking with my staff they have explained the situation to me as to what happened with your transaction. It seems my staff offered you a few different solutions rather than just the BP Elite Modem and upgrading your Bigpond monthly usage allowance. After Shaun passed you onto Jed for some further information he offered you a solution using Telstra Mobile Broadband in which you would be required to purchase the new TMB Elite Device for $399.00 and could set up a Casual TMB Plan which offers you the download/upload allowances that you would of required to perform the additional uploads back to the USA at a price of $69.00 for 6GB.
He has advised me that he offered this as the Pre Paid options were too expensive and you were using it irregularly and it is more convenient that Pre Paid were the credit expires after 30 days. This TMB solution also means that it can be cancelled at any time with no cost to you by simply removing the data pack which is added to the account and reactivated by adding the data pack to the account the next time you require it and you only ay for what you use. As you were happy with your current BP Wireless Service he did not recommend buying the BP Device as even though it may be cheaper it was not a practicle solutions as the speeds are controlled by Bigpond were as the TMB speeds are not.
You have told me in your email that you were offered a few options but you decided to go with the BP Elite device and upgrading your BP plan. The issue that we face is that unfortunately you were not happy that the claimed speeds did not meet your expectations. As Jed explained the day that you came in these are only claimed speeds and peak speeds may vary but it should definitely be within the range stated of 550kbps - 3mbps upload. By choosing the new BP device and registering it with your account this leaves us no way of being able to switch back to your old device. I have contacted BP Tech support to verify this infromation and it is correct.
On the day you came in to receive a refund for ths device our systems were running very slow and there were different things Jed needed to check off first to make sure that the account was correctly set up so that you can achieve the maximum speeds. I have had a talk to him and let him know that his communications skills with customers needs to be a lot better when facing issues like this so that people such as yourself are not just left at the counter wondering what is going on.
As my staff did offer you a different solution to what you bought to start with unfortunately im unable to refund your device and it would also mean that you would be unable to use your current BP wireless device. If you had of taken the TMB solution with a casual plan it would have allowed me to do this as the devices require no registration and we could cancel the plan at no additional cost. The only thing I may be able to suggest is to contact Bigpond technical support on 133933 to see if there may be some other technical reason as to why you are not getting the claimed speeds from the device.
If you require further information or clarity regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact me
Kind Regards,
Jade Smith
My response:
Hi Jade. Your staff are liars. I am not overly surprised, however, I should make this clear from the outset.
As I made clear to your staff at the time, my bigpond account is at the maximum allowance. I decided to upgrade my modem on my current plan because I was EXPLICITLY told that a 2 GB file would send in 15-45 minutes. NO-ONE told me that the speeeds could vary, although I know that. I expected the EXPLICIT advice I was given to be the truth and for the range given to allow for network variance. 10 hours is no-where near close enough to 45 minutes to give you any reason to disregard my compaint - your staff lied to me to get a sale and are lying to you in order to keep their jobs and to give you an excuse to ignore me.
I don't care if you have no way of turning my old device back on. I know your systems are fundamentally broken, that's why when I moved from ISDN to wireless, I could not move my email address to the new account. That doesn't change that your staff lied to me and you're now backing them up in their lies. It does not change that I was sold something on false pretences, and I surely have a trade practices claim as a result. If you're going to ignore me, I will have to forward these communications on to whatever body oversees retail transactions such as this and decides on their legality. Is it the ombudsman i need to speak to, or is it just a more general body that stops fraud in retail ?
If you'd paid attention to the letter I wrote, you'd know that I went on to buy a prepaid device because I needed to buy more bandwidth, and that I was lied to about the cost of that device ( that is, the cost of charging it ). Are you saying that I can use this device at a rate of $69 for 6 GB, because I was charged $100 when I came in to recharge it.
Christian
In the absence of a prompt reply, I also sent this:
Jade, I've done some research and according to the Sale of Goods Act 1954:
Specific performance
In an action for breach of contract to deliver specific or ascertained goods, the court may, if it thinks fit, on the application of the plaintiff, direct, by its judgment, that the contract shall be performed specifically, without giving the defendant the option of retaining the goods on payment of damages.
The judgment may be unconditional or on the terms and conditions as to damages, payment of the price or otherwise that the court thinks just. The application by the plaintiff may be made at any time before judgment.
It seems to me that if your network can't provide the speeds you promised me, the Sale of Goods Act leaves room for me to be refunded and /or paid damages. In this case, it becomes complex because any damages paid would have to include the damages incurred because my old modem no longer works, meaning if I am required to return it to get a refund, damages would at least include the cost of getting me to the situation I was in prior to the transaction.
Do you know which legal body I should be making my complaint to ? I will start with the Ombudsman, but if you know of a better body for me to contact, I presume you're legally obliged to tell me on my request
?
Christian
Hi Jade,
Thankyou for bringing this to my attention. I appreciate the depth of detail, time & effort that has gone into explaining your experience with my staff & team in general.
Like all complaints or concerns that are brought to my attention, I will now investigate your allegations & act accordingly to my findings.
If there is merit to your allegations, I can ensure you, as manager I shall resolve the matter.
Please allow a timeframe of 72 business hours for my findings regarding this matter. Due to my commitments today & the unavailability of the concerned staff, I would like to inform you that the intended investigation shall commence as of 09:00am Thursday 25/02/2010.
If you require further information or clarity in regards to this response, please do not hesitate to contact me on the mobile number stated below.
Kind
Regards
Jade Smith
Store Manager
I am not sure if she meant 72 business hours, but it was less than 9 business days before she wrote back, as follows:
Hi Christian,
Thankyou for contacting me in regards to this matter I have now looked into it with the Staff involved. Firstly I'm sorry that you feel your service from the store here was less than satisfactory when you came in looking for an alternate wireless solution.
After speaking with my staff they have explained the situation to me as to what happened with your transaction. It seems my staff offered you a few different solutions rather than just the BP Elite Modem and upgrading your Bigpond monthly usage allowance. After Shaun passed you onto Jed for some further information he offered you a solution using Telstra Mobile Broadband in which you would be required to purchase the new TMB Elite Device for $399.00 and could set up a Casual TMB Plan which offers you the download/upload allowances that you would of required to perform the additional uploads back to the USA at a price of $69.00 for 6GB.
He has advised me that he offered this as the Pre Paid options were too expensive and you were using it irregularly and it is more convenient that Pre Paid were the credit expires after 30 days. This TMB solution also means that it can be cancelled at any time with no cost to you by simply removing the data pack which is added to the account and reactivated by adding the data pack to the account the next time you require it and you only ay for what you use. As you were happy with your current BP Wireless Service he did not recommend buying the BP Device as even though it may be cheaper it was not a practicle solutions as the speeds are controlled by Bigpond were as the TMB speeds are not.
You have told me in your email that you were offered a few options but you decided to go with the BP Elite device and upgrading your BP plan. The issue that we face is that unfortunately you were not happy that the claimed speeds did not meet your expectations. As Jed explained the day that you came in these are only claimed speeds and peak speeds may vary but it should definitely be within the range stated of 550kbps - 3mbps upload. By choosing the new BP device and registering it with your account this leaves us no way of being able to switch back to your old device. I have contacted BP Tech support to verify this infromation and it is correct.
On the day you came in to receive a refund for ths device our systems were running very slow and there were different things Jed needed to check off first to make sure that the account was correctly set up so that you can achieve the maximum speeds. I have had a talk to him and let him know that his communications skills with customers needs to be a lot better when facing issues like this so that people such as yourself are not just left at the counter wondering what is going on.
As my staff did offer you a different solution to what you bought to start with unfortunately im unable to refund your device and it would also mean that you would be unable to use your current BP wireless device. If you had of taken the TMB solution with a casual plan it would have allowed me to do this as the devices require no registration and we could cancel the plan at no additional cost. The only thing I may be able to suggest is to contact Bigpond technical support on 133933 to see if there may be some other technical reason as to why you are not getting the claimed speeds from the device.
If you require further information or clarity regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact me
Kind Regards,
Jade Smith
My response:
Hi Jade. Your staff are liars. I am not overly surprised, however, I should make this clear from the outset.
As I made clear to your staff at the time, my bigpond account is at the maximum allowance. I decided to upgrade my modem on my current plan because I was EXPLICITLY told that a 2 GB file would send in 15-45 minutes. NO-ONE told me that the speeeds could vary, although I know that. I expected the EXPLICIT advice I was given to be the truth and for the range given to allow for network variance. 10 hours is no-where near close enough to 45 minutes to give you any reason to disregard my compaint - your staff lied to me to get a sale and are lying to you in order to keep their jobs and to give you an excuse to ignore me.
I don't care if you have no way of turning my old device back on. I know your systems are fundamentally broken, that's why when I moved from ISDN to wireless, I could not move my email address to the new account. That doesn't change that your staff lied to me and you're now backing them up in their lies. It does not change that I was sold something on false pretences, and I surely have a trade practices claim as a result. If you're going to ignore me, I will have to forward these communications on to whatever body oversees retail transactions such as this and decides on their legality. Is it the ombudsman i need to speak to, or is it just a more general body that stops fraud in retail ?
If you'd paid attention to the letter I wrote, you'd know that I went on to buy a prepaid device because I needed to buy more bandwidth, and that I was lied to about the cost of that device ( that is, the cost of charging it ). Are you saying that I can use this device at a rate of $69 for 6 GB, because I was charged $100 when I came in to recharge it.
Christian
In the absence of a prompt reply, I also sent this:
Jade, I've done some research and according to the Sale of Goods Act 1954:
Specific performance
In an action for breach of contract to deliver specific or ascertained goods, the court may, if it thinks fit, on the application of the plaintiff, direct, by its judgment, that the contract shall be performed specifically, without giving the defendant the option of retaining the goods on payment of damages.
The judgment may be unconditional or on the terms and conditions as to damages, payment of the price or otherwise that the court thinks just. The application by the plaintiff may be made at any time before judgment.
It seems to me that if your network can't provide the speeds you promised me, the Sale of Goods Act leaves room for me to be refunded and /or paid damages. In this case, it becomes complex because any damages paid would have to include the damages incurred because my old modem no longer works, meaning if I am required to return it to get a refund, damages would at least include the cost of getting me to the situation I was in prior to the transaction.
Do you know which legal body I should be making my complaint to ? I will start with the Ombudsman, but if you know of a better body for me to contact, I presume you're legally obliged to tell me on my request
?
Christian
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